WWW.ALOA.ORG DECEMBER 2022 KEYNOTES 19 Act. As a former elected sheriff with 28 years of service in law enforcement and a lifetime of community service, he understands what’s needed to help protect life and property in today’s schools. The “STOP” in the STOP School Violence Act of 2018 stands for “students, teachers and officers preventing.” This act is a federal response to all the school tragedies that have happened in the past 25-plus years. The Act is intended to be a tool for taking protective and continuous steps toward improving life safety and security in the schools. It’s allowed the Department of Justice to fund grants for training, technology, equipment, threat assessments, and crisis intervention. The main thrust of the law is to pre- emptively triage threats before tragedy hits. Also, it’s a big step toward easing cooperation between the schools and law enforcement. There is also an account- ability that grant money is only spent on evidence-based strategies. The STOP Act and grants work also in conjunction with National Institute of Justice CSSI (Comprehensive School Safety Initiative). The funding was for $75 million in 2018 and $100 million annually for the next 10 years. This will be offset from the CSSI. My hope of hopes is this money gets into the hands of those who need it the most. Security Hardware Companies’ Actions PASS K12 is the Partner Alliance for Safer Schools, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization with leadership partners from various groups that include a substantial part of the security hardware industry. The PASS website states that it’s recognized as “the national leader in providing a complete all-hazard approach to enhancing school safety and security.” It’s recognized by Homeland Security, Department of Justice and the National School Board Association Center for School Safety. Being recognized by all the top authorities, public and private, is no small feat. The organization’s guidelines aren’t product-specific, and they cover the ar- eas of technology, procedures, equipment and policies. So, security infrastructure isn’t the only aspect, but it’s an important one. It publishes white papers and articles on subjects such as the role of lockdown drills, classroom security measures, tem- perature screening technology and more. PASS has an advisory council of school stakeholders and is always developing new training programs. PASS Partners PASS partners consist of the who’s who in the security industry — all the big names — and groups like the Door Se- curity and Safety Foundation; Security Hardware Association; school and cam- pus police chiefs; PSA Security Network; and many more. The guidelines touch on five categories: 1. District-wide 2. Property Perimeters 3. Parking Lot Perimeters 4. Building Perimeters 5. Classroom/Interior Perimeters For more information, please visit www.passk12.org. How Our Elected Officials Are Involved A few people on Capitol Hill have been heavily involved in school safety issues. Rick Larson (Washington State) and Su- san Brooks (Indiana) of the School Safety Council Caucus were instrumental in helping schools get funding for safety initiatives prior to the STOP Act. This caucus was part of the evolutionary pro- cess of helping schools receive federal funding. Their hearts were in the right place pursuing the creation of safe en- vironments. Rick Larson has said in the past, “I want to see Congress do more in supporting our schools and communi- ties to shrink the cycle of violence,” and “Schools must be a place where our stu- dents feel safe. The School Safety Council Caucus is a forum to look at the best ways for schools to approach their safety needs as well as push for investment in security and other safety measures.” Something else struck me while doing research for this article. I came across the phrase “hardened schools.” This term was a reference to buildings that had proper protection to meet potential attacks. I hope I did not misunderstand that this was a reference to the buildings, not the people. Going back to the title of this article and the people behind the security. It’s important for me to paint a picture on a canvas that’s usually covered in facts, not in the human-ness of what we do. It’s not the facts and figures that need protecting; it’s the people. We cannot forget why we do what we do. This is not a narrative that can be told without human emotion. Because when we become hardened as people, it diminishes our quality of life. I read account after account of how a hor- rific event had a few positive outcomes by saving people’s lives via organ and tissue donations from child victims. But we don’t want to make our school campus feel and operate like prisons. The thing about prisons is that they try to keep people in. Our goal as security pro- fessionals is to keep the harmful, danger- ous people out. Steve Fryman, CRL, CAI, CISM, AFDI, is a second- generation locksmith with over 45 years of experi- ence. He has been a busi- ness owner for 20 years and is currently working at Florida State University as a key compliance manager. Steve is a subject matter expert in institu- tional shop management.
